Understanding the Top Causes of Death in Thailand: Trends and Risks Revealed

I amOld peopleand age will only increase withrisk of death I could not find this information in Thailand. But there is US data. which can be summarized as follows

A 67-year-old man (me) has a 2% risk of dying (a 67-year-old woman has a 1% risk of dying), compared to a 0.3% risk for a 37-year-old man (a woman 0.1%) And if I’m lucky enough to have live to be 97 years old, I must recognize that the risk of dying in that year is equal to 33%.

For information about Thailand regarding the top 10 causes of death, I have summarized this as shown in the accompanying table.

I have used data from the past 20 years to look at death trends among Thai people.I have the following comments:

1.Ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease It is the leading cause of death. And this risk has increased significantly. together from almost 118 people per 100,000 people in 2000 to almost 146 people per 100,000 people in 2019, that is, an increase of 23.7%.

Although we often understand that taking care of new medicine and advanced technology will help reduce the number of deaths from such diseases.We need to ask ourselves how we can try to take better care of ourselves.

2. There seems to be good news.Accidents from using vehiclesreduction, but should be reduced more Including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the disease that seems to fall out of the top 10 is AIDS, which does not ‘ appear in this data set.

3. Almost all deaths among Thai people are caused by non-communicable diseases. with the exception of AIDS Car accidents and lower respiratory tract infections The latter infection appears to have increased significantly. Part of this could be caused by a reduction in air quality due to an increase in PM2.5 dust.

4. It is another “hot” disease Dementia that increased from 19 people per 100,000 people to 33 people per 100,000 people within 10 years (an increase of 68.5%) and kidney disease which increased from 26 people per 100,000 people to 39 people per 100,000 people (an increase of 50.8%)

5.Death fromDiabetesAlthough diabetes does not appear to have increased much over the past 20 years, diabetes is known to increase the risk of dying from ischemic heart disease. Stroke and kidney failure, etc.

In addition, there is a risk of diabetes to damage the capillaries. which is at risk of causing blindness From studying health information for 10 years, I believe that diabetes is a dangerous disease.

and inBook out by Dr Peter Attia compared diabetes to getting on the train at the first station on the way so farchronic non-communicable diseasesTherefore, you should avoid getting on the train that leads to diabetes.

I have also included the same data for 2019, but divided into data for Thai men and Thai women. As shown in the table, it can be seen that the data for Thai women and Thai men are very different. Men have a higher risk of dying from heart disease and stroke than women. Includes deaths from motor vehicle accidents.

For that woman I am surprised by the high rate of AIDS. (18 per 100,000 people) and very high depression, 42.7 people per 100,000 people Men’s data does not appear in the top 10, but I believe it will increase significantly in the future.

In addition, cancer (in this data set including liver, lung and bronchial cancer) remains the leading cause of death. both men and women are also in the partLiver cancerThat has increased so much that it is worrying.

Column: Economics + Health

Dr Suphawut Saichuea

Consultant to Pathra Research Institute

Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Industry Group